Savvy Shopper Saves Over £1000 A Year With Clever Grocery Hacks
- Claire saves hundreds each month with her budget hacks
- She has saved over £450 by using cashback apps regularly
- By using loyalty card points she grabs free drinks from Caffe Nero
- She regularly saves on groceries - including a £14.46 haul for just £3.50
As the price of various food products increase, more shoppers are looking to make savings on their grocery purchases wherever possible. Fortunately, there are many tools out there which can help with making some impressive savings - as one savvy shopper has proven.
Claire Chadwick, an Assessment, Data and Examinations Officer from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham with two stepsons aged 7 and 10, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘I save money on food by browsing for yellow sticker bargains, using cashback apps and keeping an eye out for vouchers, loyalty point deals and more. I get most of my yellow sticker items from Tesco (purely because that is where I tend to go for my main food shop) but I also find lots of bargains in Sainsburys.
‘I tend to find anything and everything during these trips and share them on my Instagram ClaireSavesCash. The ‘yellow sticker’ area really is a treasure trove of goodies and I love the excitement of not knowing what I will find! Some of my favourite bargains have been tins of ‘bashed’ carrots for 8p, an ‘Indian snack collection’ box for 49p, a packet of sausages for 88p and a unicorn baking kit for just £1.
‘The items can be used as the star ingredient or an accompaniment to an existing meal - finding bargains like this really helps me mix up my meal plans and helps me to try different products at a lower price that I perhaps often wouldn’t have bought!
‘The end of the day tends to be the best time to pick up a yellow sticker bargain. Items with a close use by date are reduced throughout the day but the reduction tends to be greater the closer towards a store closing time - this helps the store to sell the items before they have to be removed from the shop floor.
‘I’ve scoured the aisles at my local large supermarket and smaller express store and know exactly where the yellow sticker shelves are located within the store. There usually tends to be an ambient area for tins/bottles/packets etc, a chilled area for meats/pasta/sandwiches etc and an area specifically for fruit/vegetables. I’ve also located the ‘flower’ section and have found some great bargains there too.
‘I can easily save over £100 a month. Just a couple of pounds per week can soon add up. It’s the little changes like this made to your weekly shop that can really save you so much money with little effort. By getting into the habit of adding a few ‘yellow sticker’ items into your basket each time you shop, you can really reduce your food bill.
‘Any additional or surplus food we make (intentionally or unintentionally) is always boxed up into a reusable container and is put into the fridge to be consumed the next day for lunch or into the freezer to be consumed another day. This applies to extra portions of meals like chilli and spaghetti bolognese or any surplus vegetables like onions - they are chopped up and frozen for future use.
‘Another way I save on groceries is by making use of the Too Good To Go app. The other week I picked up a magic bag from my local Spar which had items worth £14.46, but I paid just £3.50 for it. It’s such a good way to save money and reduce food waste too.
Claire also picks up freebies and discounts by using cashback apps, loyalty cards and vouchers. ‘I am always finding ways to get products for free. I recently got a free drink by using CheckOutSmart at WHSmith. I have saved over £459 by using this app.
‘I also use Nectar points to pay for drinks in Caffe Nero. For 350 points (a cash value of £1.75) you can get a voucher for a drink. So for exchanging 700 points (a cash value of £3.50) I was able to get two large speciality hot chocolates that would have cost £7.60.’
‘By downloading cashback apps such as CheckOutSmart, food waste apps such as Too Good To Go and making good use of your loyalty card points in combination with browsing yellow sticker bargains, you can easily reduce your food shopping spend by over £1000 a year.’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Claire has taken her savings to the next level by combining yellow stickers, cash back apps and loyalty card rewards. I’ll have to try out the Nectar card trick next time I visit a Caffe Nero!’
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